


The Evolution of BonBekah

by BornWeird



Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Male Character, Damon Salvatore Bashing, Elena Gilbert Bashing, Elijah Mikaelson Bashing, F/F, F/M, Klaus Mikaelson Bashing, M/M, Stefan Salvatore Bashing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-20
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-01-01 03:12:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12147396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BornWeird/pseuds/BornWeird
Summary: Bonnie Bennett and Rebekah Mikaelson are both strong independent women who could tear the world apart together, thus they were kept apart. This story, brings them together.





	1. The Reckoning

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so originally I was going to do drabbles/interconnected one-shots, but then my muse was like, "nope, this is a story you lazy piece of shit, deal with it." Also, I had Jeremy feels, and Tyler feels, and Jyler feels... also, Jeremy and Kol, so wasted potential, don't even get me started. Also, I usually don't bash the Salvatores or Klaus, but there will be some of that throughout, I was in a mood. First chapter takes place during 3x05, hence the title. Happy reading!

"You're wet," are the first words that Bonnie Bennett hears Rebekah Mikaelson say to her.

"Sorry?" she asks the vampire, furrowing her eyebrows together in confusion as she has a towel handed to her.

"You're wet," Rebekah repeats, as she watches Bonnie dry her hair. "What, did you decide to go take a dip while your friends were fighting for their lives?"

"No, I just thought that saving my human friend from drowning should come before saving the lives of my supernatural friends who know how to fend for themselves." Rebekah raises her eyebrows at the fiery little witch. She forgot how feisty witches, especially Bennett witches, were.

"What are you still doing here?" Bonnie looks at the blonde suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" Now Rebekah's the one who looks confused.

"Well, I saw Klaus leave like twenty minutes ago. So what are  _you_ , still doing here?

"Klaus left?!" Rebekah practically shrieks, moving closer towards Bonnie. Bonnie mentally patted herself on the back for being only slightly intimidated by how close Rebekah had gotten to her.

"That's what I said."

Rebekah snatches the towel out of her hands, crumples it up into a ball, and throws it as far she possibly can. When the towel only lands a few feet away from her feet rather than being out of her sight, Rebekah lets out a shrill scream in frustration. She then proceeds to kick the side of the nearest car, leaving a dent. It takes Bonnie a quick second to realize that it was Caroline's car.

Well shit.

"I know this might not exactly be the best time to mention this, but I wasn't done with that towel," says Bonnie, slightly amused by Rebekah's theatrics.

Rebekah glares at her. "I am so very glad that you find my pain to be amusing."

"I know it's wrong, but it feels so right."

Rebekah rolls her eyes as she turns around to walk away, only to be stopped by Bonnie who calls out, "Wait!" She turns back around to face Bonnie. Folding her arms across her chest, Rebekah hisses, " _What_?"

"Why are you so upset?" Bonnie asks, causing Rebekah's face to soften, her arms to fall back down to her sides, and her guard to be let down.

"Well, not what I was expecting you to ask, but if you must know, Nik asked me to go get the truck, and like a good little sister, I went to go get it, and then when I got it, he was nowhere in sight. So I decided to go look for him. When I couldn't find him, I saw you outside, all wet and shivering, and I thought 'hey, I have towels, might as well give one to the poor girl so she doesn't die.' And that's when you told me that my brother left me. All alone. Again."

Bonnie knows that Rebekah's the enemy, that she shouldn't feel sorry for her. But she can't help but feel sympathetic towards her. Original vampire or not, Rebekah's suffered through pain and agony just like she and her friends have… if not more! Besides, Bonnie's had her fair share of people leaving, so it was hard for her to not to feel sympathetic towards the blonde.

"I'm sorry." Bonnie gives the distressed vampire a small smile. Rebekah, despite herself, smiles back, something she hadn't done in ninety years.

"Thank you."

Suddenly, Rebekah hears doors being opened, thanks to her vampire hearing, so she does the logical thing and vamp speeds behind some bushes.

With Bonnie in tow.

"What the hell?" demands Bonnie, trying to get up from her spot, Rebekah not letting her do so.

"Hush! Keep your voice down."

From their hiding place, the two girls have a clear view of what's going on. They see Caroline and Tyler walking over to Caroline's car, hand in hand and oh so in love. Caroline pushes Tyler against her car, leaning in for a kiss, resulting in his foot banging against the dent Rebekah had caused. Caroline immediately moves Tyler aside so that she could inspect her car.

"Tyler!" Bonnie and Rebekah hear her screech, causing them to giggle. "You put a dent in my car!"

"I'm sorry Care," they hear Tyler trying to apologize, causing them to try to stifle their growing laughter.

They see Caroline get in her car, and drive away, as Tyler speeds on after her. Once the baby vamp and the hybrid are both a safe distance away, Bonnie and Rebekah burst out laughing.

"Looks like we put the dog in the dog house," remarks Rebekah.

"He's not a dog!" Bonnie is quick to defend her friend, although still laughing. "But you're not wrong about that dog house part."

Once their laughter has died down, Bonnie informs Rebekah, "My friend Caroline will be your first enemy in this town once she finds out you were the one who put that dent in her car."

Rebekah merely shrugs. "So let her."

Bonnie stares at her, almost in awe. "You really don't care about what other people think of you, do you?"

"Just the ones that matter."

Something about the way Rebekah said that caused a strange feeling to wash over Bonnie, once that she shook off by asking, "What are you going to do, now that Klaus is gone?"

Rebekah sighs. "I don't know. Do you know anywhere decent for me to stay at least?"

"The Salvatore Boarding House has four shower heads."

"Boarding House it is!" Both girls laugh as they think of what an utter disaster and shitstorm that would be.

The breeze of the cool autumn night picks up, causing Bonnie to shiver. Rebekah looks at her and says, "You're still wet."

Bonnie rubs her hands up and down her arms in a feeble attempt to warm up. "Well I wouldn't be if  _someone_  hadn't thrown my towel away."

Rebekah cringes when she hears this, and then proceeds to take her cardigan off. "What are you doing?" Bonnie looks at Rebekah in shock as the blonde hands her cardigan to her.

"Well, since I'm the reason you're freezing cold, I thought that it's only fair I should also be the reason you're warm and cozy."

"Well what about you?" asks Bonnie, concern evident in her eyes.

"Vampire, remember? I'll be fine."

"Right, I'm stupid."

"No, you're concerned and caring," Rebekah states firmly, as if daring Bonnie to argue with her.

"You're a lot nicer than your brothers."

"Huh, well there's a first time for everything I guess."

"I mean, you're clearly petty by nature, and you're obviously desperate for love and affection with all the abandonment issues you seem to have," Bonnie continues on as if she hadn't heard a single thing that Rebekah had just said. "Not to mention this stone cold bitch vibe you give off… but you're pleasant, nonetheless."

"Hilarious. What are you, psychic?"

"Well, that, and I'm just really good at reading people. And you my friend, are an open book."

Rebekah looks at Bonnie curiously. No one's really ever been able to quite grasp her personality so well. Heck, she was sure that even her brothers hadn't! But this girl, this young girl who was wise beyond her years… she saw right through her.

She's going to be a fun one.

Rebekah gets up. "I'll see you around little witch." As she begins to walk away, Bonnie Bennett's voice stops her in her tracks for the second time that night.

"My name is Bonnie!" she hears her call out. Rebekah looks over her shoulder and sees Bonnie standing up, wearing her cardigan. It was a little bigger on her tiny frame, but she looked nice nonetheless.

"Rebekah!" she shouts, before speeding away into the night.

Bonnie bites her lip as the whoosh of Rebekah's super speed causes a gust of wind to send her hair flying. She knows that her friends might actually kill her, but Bonnie actually likes Rebekah. In fact, she even looks forward to the next time she runs into her. One thing she knows for sure is that Rebekah, will definitely keep her on her toes.

Who would've guessed that the judgy little Bennett witch would actually enjoy the company of Rebekah 'life of the party' Mikaelson?


	2. Senior Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place during 3x06, Smells Like Teen Spirit, so in light of that, this is literally a conversation between two teenage girls... except one's a 1000 year-old vampire, and the other is a badass witch who likes to take the entire weight of the world on her shoulders. Also, this entire chapter is just a conversation between Bonnie and Rebekah, and I think so is the next one, but other characters will start to play an important role soon. Happy reading!

Bonnie Bennett always thought that by the time senior year rolled around, her biggest problem would be deciding where to go to college. Instead, she's worried about vampires, hybrids, and being tossed aside for a ghost. She'd much rather be enjoying her last year as a high school student to the fullest; going to parties, hanging out with friends, maybe meeting a cute guy or two... and definitely kicking Biology's ass.

"Hello, Sleeping Bonnie?" are the words that bring her back to reality, and out of the fantasy that was her thoughts. Bonnie opens her eyes, only to be met with Rebekah Mikaelson's amused glance and warm smile. Looking around, Bonnie realizes that she'd zoned out at whatever her calculus teacher was going on about, which was to be expected since she was the only one out of her friends to have taken the course. Caroline and Matt had already taken it during summer school, because they're smart like that, Tyler would rather get head from Klaus and Elena probably didn't have credits to take it in the first place. Wasn't she trying to get into med school?

Focusing her attention on Rebekah, Bonnie asks, "How long have I been out?"

"Since Mrs. Carter up there said 'welcome to hell seniors, enjoy the ride,' and then I forget the rest because I tuned her out."

"You're a vampire, you have super hearing." Rebekah raises an eyebrow at the statement, and then realizes that Bonnie had done a silencing spell so that no one could hear them, but they could hear everyone else.

"Doesn't mean I can't tune people out," she's quick to bite back.

Bonnie furrows her eyebrows, something Rebekah had noticed she does when she's curious and ready to play 20 Questions.

"What do you want?" she asks. Bonnie looks confused, prompting Rebekah to add, "You're doing the thing with your eyebrows when you want to ask a question. So, ask away Bennett!"

Bonnie looks surprised. She wasn't even sure her friends even knew this was her thinking face, even though they'd bore witness to it numerous times. "Is being observant a vampire thing or a Rebekah Mikaelson thing?"

"Little bit of both, actually. So, what do you want to know?"

"Why are you here, Rebekah? I mean, I know Klaus left you, but you can compel anyone and go anywhere in the world that you want to. But you're here, in high school, taking calculus. Why?"

"Because I don't know what else to do. I've been in a box for ninety years, and the last man I remember loving doesn't love me back. And my brother, my dick of a brother who daggered me in the first place, left me, all alone,  _again_. For once in my life, I wanted someone to stand by me, and maybe I can find that here. Isn't this where people create lifelong relationships?"

Bonnie snorts. "You read that off a brochure?"

"A what?"

"Never mind. And hey, I get it. You just want normal, I want that too."

Now it's Rebekah's turn to pull a Bonnie. "Do you really?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you really wanted normal, then you'd get out of here. Mystic Falls might be my normal, but it doesn't seem to be yours."

Not wanting to have this conversation with Rebekah, one that she wasn't even brave enough to have with herself, Bonnie, in true Bonnie fashion, changes the subject. "So, what else are you taking? I haven't seen you in any other classes."

Rebekah groans. "I had history first with your whole crew of bad haircuts and doe eyes." Bonnie glares at her for that comment. "Then I had chemistry, and it was horrid because we had to wear these disgusting glasses."

"They're called goggles," Bonnie explains, chuckling, "and they're meant to protect those beautiful eyes of yours."

"Beautiful huh?" Bonnie giggles at Rebekah's playfulness, telling her to continue. "Alright, um, then I had something called free period where I was told to go sit in the library, which sounded like such a drag, but then I saw blonde hair, blue eyes, and muscles and thought, why the hell not?"

"Understood. My free period was actually during your chemistry class, and I happen to have history with you, but Ric's cool so he let me go hide out in the library and have some alone time. Besides, according to him, World War III actually took place in his class today."

Rebekah simply shrugs at the pointed look Bonnie sends her way. "So we offered the students a live demonstration of what war is like. He should be thanking us. Caroline and Elena's depiction of tag teaming was spot on. Even though I handed their asses to them on a bronze platter."

"A  _bronze_  platter?" asks Bonnie, raising an amused eyebrow, stifling a laugh as she had a feeling what was going to come next.

"Well, I wasn't about to waste silver on  _those_  two. Tyler, maybe. Stefan, for sure if he can get his head out of his ass. Forget about that, what did you have during my free period?"

"Oh, French, and then Spanish right before lunch."

Rebekah looks shocked, impressed, but shocked. "You speak three languages?"

"Twelve, actually."

"WHAT?!" Rebekah lets out a blood curling scream.

"Oh my god! Okay, Bex, I might not be a vampire, but I still have pretty sensitive hearing."

"Sorry but - wait, did you just call me Bex?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Sorry, it must've slipped."

"No, it's fine!" Rebekah's quick reaction caused Bonnie to flinch, which made her calm down before continuing. "Sorry, it's just that, no one's called me Bex other than my brother Kol, and I haven't seen him in over a hundred years."

Bonnie rolls her eyes. "Let me guess, Klaus had something to do with this?"

Rebekah rolls her eyes as well. "Doesn't he always? Anyways, you, the multilingual one, what the bloody hell is wrong with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Bonnie, you can speak twelve languages, do you have any idea what kind of a talent that is? You could be doing so much more and yet here you are in this Podunk, backwater town as the resident fix-it girl to be at Elena Gilbert's beck and call, even when she chips a bloody nail. That dumb bitch couldn't even walk if you or the Salvatores weren't there holding her hand, or let's be honest, carrying her on your shoulders. Look, I might not know you, but like you said, I am observant and so far I've observed that the Salvatores are lovesick fools who are worse than my brothers, Elena's an utter moron, Caroline's an insecure little girl and Tyler can and will do whatever you want if you toss him some B positive."

"Tyler's not anyone's lapdog and Caroline is tougher than she looks!" Bonnie's eyes blazed, not being able to stomach anyone insulting Tyler or Caroline.

"Funny how you defended them and not Elena or her boy toys."

"Elena can defend herself, Stefan's being a royal pain, and Damon's head would look lovely under my new boots." Rebekah raises an eyebrow at Bonnie's boldness. There's the feisty little witch from yesterday!

Rebekah raises her arms in the air, as if to surrender, and says, "Alright, fine, let's just agree to disagree -"

"The universal term for 'we're done here' but whatever you say."

"Moving on, how did you learn so many languages? Because I highly doubt Mystic Falls High offered more than three of them."

"Girl I'm thanking the stars that they even offer  _Spanish_ , let alone French!"

"Isn't Spanish required?"

"Says a lot doesn't it? Anyway, I didn't even learn French and Spanish in school, I taught myself. I just took the courses because Madame Anastasie likes to cook and loves to share, and Senorita Josephine is also the guidance counselor."

"You mean you taught yourself how to speak twelve languages?" a baffled Rebekah asks.

"Ten if you don't count English and Latin. See, every few summers, my dad's side of the family gets together, and don't get me wrong, I love them all dearly, but they are super boring. So, I started a tradition of my own - to keep myself busy, I'd learn the language of the place that we were visiting."

"Okay, so you're telling me that you've not only taught yourself all these languages, but you've also been exposed to the culture that comes along with them?"

"Yeah, I've been to a lot of places, and they're all wonderful. I definitely want to go back to Paris, my favorite memories were all there. Amsterdam was really nice too, but it was a while ago, so my memories of it are a little fuzzy. I've never been to Prague though, I'd love to go there next."

"Wait, what languages do you even speak?"

"Well, other than the four that I've already mentioned, I know Italian, Dutch, Russian, Polish, Swedish, Hebrew, Romanian and Portuguese."

"Bloody hell, half the people here can barely manage to speak their mother tongue without slandering it with abbreviations and here you are with your plethora of language knowledge just collecting dust in your brain. You better put this to good use Bennett!"

"Alright, mother, I will! So, back to what other classes you got stuck with."

"Ugh, don't remind me. I had biology right before lunch, and the teacher is horrendous!"

"Oh, yeah, Sawyer's a nightmare. I had bio with Miss Flowers right before this, and she's great!"

"Think I could switch into your class?"

"Please do! My lab partner is Chad Carpenter, and frankly, stoner boy's a major creep. If it wouldn't get her fired, Miss Flowers would whoop his ass."

"Okay, I'm definitely compelling the guidance counselor to switch me into all your classes."

"You don't need to compel Senorita - oh... right. Guidance counselors are assigned by last name so you got stuck with -"

"Georgiadis," both girls groan at once.

"Yup, you should definitely compel him," says Bonnie. "Dude's like a louder, less annoying and more infuriating version of Damon. Speaking of which, heard you moved into the Salvatore Boarding House."

"Four shower heads, enough said. How'd you find out?"

Bonnie rolls her eyes as she groans, pulling out her phone. "Damon sent me multiple texts about how it's my fault that you moved in because I put the idea in your head in the first place, and Elena bitch -  _complained_  about it in our English class. I heard more about Damon's man pain and less about Shakespeare's sonnets."

"Sounds like a blast," drawls Rebekah. "When was this?"

"Right after lunch."

"Ah, during my other free period."

"Oh, see, I had my other free period right after that with all my friends."

"Mmm, that's when I had English. What did you have right before this snoozefest?"

"Music, my absolute favorite because Mr. Martin lets me have full access to the music room."

"I had business, which actually wasn't terrible. I have it with Tyler, and once you get past his love for Caroline, he's not half bad. So, no switching out of that, but everything else is fair game."

Leaning in closer towards Rebekah, Bonnie asks, "Why do you want to switch into all my classes?"

"Chemistry makes me wear goggles and I'd rather have acid thrown in my eyes -"

"Which is what would happen if you don't wear the goggles."

Rebekah, waving a hand in the air and completely ignoring what Bonnie had said, continues on. "Blue eyes is pretty, but you're absolutely gorgeous, not to mention a much better conversationalist. And if I have to sit through another moment of Sawyer's voice, Mystic Falls High is going to be short a biology teacher."

"Trust me, they'll throw a parade in your honor." Rebekah lets out an unladylike snort, which would've had her ostracized from society in the past.

"That does not surprise me in the least. Anyways, I'm alone in English and free period, so I'd prefer to have a friend to talk to. And, I heard that a certain class is still available for us to switch into and get out of this hellhole. I mean, do you really need calculus?"

"No, and I know which class you're talking about, and I refuse to take it."

"Are you bloody joking? How could you say no to dance class?"

"Because my version of dance and Mystic Falls's version of dance are poles apart."

"Was that a dance joke?"

"Rebekah!"

"What? Look, I can tell you don't want to have to deal with this nightmare, so switch into dance class with me!" Rebekah grabs a hold of Bonnie's hands, looking her right in the eyes. "Come on Bonnie, please!"

"Did you just say please?"

"Yes, and I think you know that I don't say it often, and if you bring it up again, I'll deny it."

One stare down with Rebekah later, Bonnie caved. "Alright, fine, you win! Dance class it is. Now, do you want to be the one to break the news to Miss Carter, or should I?"

Before Rebekah could answer, the girls hear the bell ring, prompting Bonnie to lift her silencing spell.

"Well, I'll see you at cheer leading practice," Rebekah says happily before flouncing out the door.

"Wait what?" Bonnie demands, dashing after her.


	3. Bonfires and Bourbon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is definitely based on the events of 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' just like the last one was, so just an FYI. Happy reading!

"I certainly hope you're having a better night than I am." Rebekah snaps her towards the owner of the familiar voice, her face breaking out into a genuine smile.

"There's my favorite witch!"

Bonnie giggles at the statement. "Well, considering the amount of crazy powerful witches you've probably met in your lifetime, I take that as a compliment."

"As you should," says Rebekah, a teasing twinkle in her eye as she hands Bonnie a bottle of bourbon she'd stolen from Damon.

Bonnie raises an eyebrow at the drink. "Is this Damon's bourbon? I'm only asking because it looks expensive as hell, like, I could very well purchase two cars with that kind of money."

"Good eye. He won't miss one bottle out of the million that he has in that wretched manor of his."

"The wretched manor where you're an uninvited houseguest who absolutely adores their four showerheads?"

Rebekah shrugs. "I've seen better. Anyways, you, drink up - you look like you could use it."

"Is it that obvious?" Rebekah gives her a sympathetic nod, causing her to groan before she chugs half the bottle down in three gulps.

"Woo, wow!" she screams at the top of her lungs. "Guess I did need that."

Rebekah glances at her fondly, remarking, "I forgot what lightweights humans can be."

Bonnie scoffs. "I am  _not_  a lightweight."

Then she almost falls off the log they were sitting on, but Rebekah puts her arms around her waist right before she hit the ground, her head resting on Rebekah's shoulder rather than Mother Nature.

"Not a lightweight you say?" Rebekah fights back the chuckles as she glances down at Bonnie, who, as tiny as she already is, looked even tinier enveloped in Rebekah's arms.

"Shut up," Bonnie grumbles, unknowingly tugging on Rebekah's shirt.

"Okay then. Since you are clearly drunk now, how about you tell me what happened tonight? I mean, Elena was getting drunk, dealing with an emotionless boyfriend and contemplating her feelings for said boyfriend's older brother after seeing him with a gorgeous girl that she can never, ever compete with."

Bonnie snorts. "Let me guess, you?"

"Huh, what do you know? Beauty has brains."

"Control that super-strength of yours and I'll show you her brawn too."

"Maybe some other night love. How about you stick to telling me why your night was shit even with no Elena Gilbert to save?"

Bonnie cringes at Rebekah's words as she sheepishly admits, "Actually, there was an Elena Gilbert to save."

Rebekah rolls her eyes, clearly not surprised. "Good lord, the girl has three men on guard duty and she still needs you to save her pathetic behind?"

"Well, it wasn't really her fault –"

"Why do I get the feeling that everyone around here uses that as their catchphrase?"

"Will you please let me finish? Jeez, you're the one who wants to hear the story!"

Rebekah wants to protest, mainly because there was just something about Bonnie's feisty side that had grown on her within a mere day, but instead gives in saying, "Alright, alright, go on then."

"Thank you. So you remember that human friend I told you I saved last night, Matt? Well, I had to save him because he tried to kill himself and come back to life so he'd be able to see ghosts, specifically, the ghost of his older sister Vicki."

"Nice group of friends you've created for yourself, they sound like a perfectly healthy lot." Bonnie pinches Rebekah's side for that comment. Apparently being drunk made her think that she could actually cause Rebekah pain.

Drunk Bonnie sure has big dreams.

"As I was saying, Vicki made a deal with a witch to come back to life. The deal was that she had to kill Elena, aka, the hybrid blood donor."

"I don't see anything wrong with that."

Bonnie wants to defend Elena, but the alcohol lead her to instead go with, "You know, you two would really like each other, like it's scary how well you'd get along. Ever since we were kids, Vicki has always hated Elena, so killing her to stay on both planes was an easy choice for her to make."

"Sounds like my kind of girl. So you knew her well, this Vicki?"

A smile graces Bonnie's lips as she starts to talk about Vicki. "She was Matt's big sister, but at times she also felt like my big sister. Matt had no dad and a quarter of a mom. I had no mom, Houdini for a dad and somewhat of a grandmother. And then there was Vicki, barely a year older than us, who became our mom and dad and everything in between. I spent most of my childhood over at Mattie's, and every day after school, we'd come home, and Vicki would immediately get on our case about just leaving our shit at the front of the door. We would argue and say we'd do it later, and she'd say 'do it now or the TV gets it,' and we were children so obviously we didn't call her bluff. Oh, and our shoes! Matt and I would never take our shoes off before entering the house, and we'd drag mud and dirt everywhere. Sometimes we did it to piss Vicki off for getting on our case, but she always got us back by hiding the TV remote until we put our shoes where they belonged and cleaned up the mess we made.

God, we could never find where she hid the remotes, to this day, Vicki Donovan remains the best secret keeper of all time. The secret ingredient for her famous grilled cheese that she slaved over so Mattie and I could have an after-school snack? Still unknown. Can you believe that she wouldn't let us watch TV until we finished all our homework? What a monster! Wait, do you even know what a TV is? Never mind. In the end, Vicki ended up doing our homework for any way the minute I showed her what everyone but me refers to as my 'Disney Princess' eyes because she was putty in my hands."

Rebekah tries to hide her laughter as she listens to Bonnie's ridiculously amusing rant, focusing specifically on her various expressions. She wonders whether this was simply the alcohol, or Bonnie's actual personality.

"Well, your eyes are hard to say no to."

"You think mine are hard to say no to? Girl, wait till I introduce you to one Jeremy Gilbert and his fucking puppy dog eyes because Jesus those things are effing hypnotic." Rebekah bursts out laughing, unable to control herself any longer. She hadn't had this much fun without sex and murder being involved since… well, forever!

"Alright, so what happened with Vicki?"

Bonnie's smile fades away as she thinks back to the events of tonight. "Magic always has a price. We had to send her back. She's my sister, Rebekah, and I love her so much, and I can't have her back. I can't give Mattie our sister back because of this stupid balance of nature that I got stuck with protecting and I feel so useless because what good is my magic if I can't bring someone that I love so very much back?"

Tears. Tears are something Rebekah Mikaelson hasn't dealt with in very, very long time. She's been around murderers for far too long for her to see anyone around her cry, never mind cry herself. So having Bonnie cry into her shirt was not something that Rebekah had been prepared for. What the bloody hell was she supposed to do? Cry as well? Gently pat her on the? Rub her back? Say 'there there,' and hope that it gets her to stop?

Apparently, even while bawling her eyes out, Bonnie Bennett had the answer to everything. All Rebekah had to do was hold onto her even tighter than she already was, and never let go.

"I'm sorry," she murmurs into Bonnie's hair, gracing the top of her head with a gentle peck.

Bonnie brings her head up, giving Rebekah a full visual of her bloodshot eyes and tear-stained face. "Why are you sorry?"

"For making you sad. I made you talk about Vicki, and then you were all happy, and then I asked about tonight which made you cry and –" Rebekah stops her rambling when she hears the sound of Bonnie's laughter.

"God, I'm so sorry, but for a supposed menacing Original vampire, you are much too precious."

"Precious?" Rebekah scrunches her face in confusion – precious has never a word which people use to describe her.

"Yes, precious. Absolutely adorable and utterly priceless."

Rebekah stares at Bonnie in absolute awe, cheeks burning, praying that Bonnie doesn't see her cheeks flaring up into an atrocious tomato red.

"Yes, well, um…" the Original stammers, trying to gather her thoughts, while Bonnie finds her to be absolutely endearing.

Rebekah is quite literally saved by the bell when Bonnie's phone rings. Bonnie frowns when she sees who it is. Noticing her new friend's sour expression, Rebekah asks, "Who is it? Is it Damon? Tell him I'll stake him – I already stabbed him tonight."

"No, it's not Damon… though I kind of wish it was with your promising to stake him."

"Well if it's not the wannabe devil in a leather jacket, then who else could possibly make you so upset?"

"My boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Suddenly Rebekah feels much more alert, as if the word was new and a personal offense to her.

"Yes, my boyfriend, Jeremy, who keeps thinking about his dead ex-girlfriend, hence why she keeps appearing in front of him."

"Your boyfriend is a medium?"

"Yeah. He died while saving me last year, and I begged my ancestors to bring him back. But as you know…"

"All magic has a price," Rebekah finishes for her, giving the witch a sad smile.

The phone rings again, gaining Rebekah's attention. Before Bonnie could even blink, Rebekah grabs the phone out of her hand and picks up Jeremy's call.

"Hello, Jeremy is it? Hi, I'm Rebekah, Bonnie's new friend. I hear that you're actually cheating on her, emotionally at least, with a bloody ghost! Now, give me one good reason why Bonnie should pick up your call rather than dumping you on your sorry ass?" Rebekah waits for a moment before continuing, completely ignoring Bonnie's shrieks of protest in the background. "Silence, perfect, I'd rather not find out what your voice actually sounds like, especially since Tyler told me that you're related to a certain doe-eyed doppelganger with a kink for sharing brothers like her ancestors had, so that in itself should've been a turnoff. Wow, I am questioning Bonnie's taste in just about everything right now... other than maybe her friendship with Tyler because he's great. Anyways, don't ever call her again, bye now!"

Rebekah turns to Bonnie after her rant, giving her a bright smile. "If I buy you a new phone, can I please destroy this one?"

Bonnie knows she should protest, but instead she sighs. "I am way too drunk to care."

"Great!" Rebekah throws the phone against a nearby tree, satisfied as it shatters into a million pieces. She then picks Bonnie up bridal style, gaining her attention.

"What the – Rebekah?!"

"Time for you to go home love," is the last thing Rebekah says to her before using her vampire speed to get to Bonnie's house – Tyler was more than happy to give Rebekah her address after she brought him a human blood bag.

The next morning, Bonnie wakes up with a slight headache, and a box resting on her nightstand, a note attached to the lid. She reaches for the box, opening the note first.

"Dear Bonnie," she reads out loud, "I had fun last night, but I'm sorry I made you cry. Also, in case you don't remember, I swear to you that you gave me consent to break your phone. Here's the new one I promised. Don't put that horrid Gilbert boy's number in it, please. Or his sister's, for that matter. Love, Rebekah."

Bonnie opens the box, and there it was – a brand new phone with Rebekah's number already saved under the name, 'Bex.'

Bonnie's face breaks out into a wide grin as she shakes her head, getting ready for school. She didn't know if her somehow becoming friends with the Original vampire was weird and crazy, or just about the best thing to ever happen to her!


	4. Meet The Family I

"Clarice, the pattern is white-gold-white-gold-blue-gold-white-gold-white, not white-gold-white-gold-blue-white-gold-white-gold! Must I do everything myself?" Caroline shrieks at some poor innocent freshman who looks like she wants to crawl into a hole and die.

Bonnie, Tyler, and Matt try to stifle their laughter at their friend in all her crazy, event-planning dictator glory, but secretly wonder how after all these years, people haven't learned to expect this from Caroline, who color codes her notes,  _her notes_. Even in her notes app!

"How much do you want to bet Caroline's going to actually make someone burst into tears this time?" asks Matt.

"Oh god, my entire life savings, including  _all_  my inheritance money from Grams," Bonnie tells him.

"Damn, you're serious."

"Dead serious."

"Speaking of dead and serious," Tyler butts in, staring pointedly at Bonnie, "what's going on with you and Rebekah?"

Bonnie nearly falls off the ladder where she stood, hanging up lanterns, but Matt holds her steady, narrowing his eyes Tyler when he snorts at Bonnie's reaction to his words. Finally finding her balance, Bonnie gives Tyler a glare that would've received a standing ovation from Katherine Pierce herself.

"What do you know, Tyler Joseph Lockwood?"

"Well Miss Bonnie Sheila Bennett," Tyler retorts, "I know that Rebekah picked up your phone when Jeremy called you last night and ripped him a new a one. And I have a feeling that's why you now suddenly have this brand new phone."

"Damn, you're good."

"Wait, seriously, he's right?" Matt blurts out in surprise.

"Rebekah's not that bad once you get to know her," Bonnie assures him, knowing how stupidly protective he can become.

Tyler dramatically throws his arms up into the air. "That's what I've been telling Caroline! She's really cool and super funny and hates Elena."

"Yeah, she's so great and – wait! How did you know that Rebekah chewed out Jeremy last night?"

"Because he called me."

"Jeremy called you?" both Matt and Bonnie demand in unison, completely and utterly surprised.

"Well, he had a problem, and he couldn't go to  _you_ ," Tyler gestures towards Bonnie, "because you kind of are said problem. And he couldn't go to  _you_ ," Tyler then gestures towards Matt, "because you're Bonnie's brother first and Jeremy's friend second. And he certainly couldn't go to Caroline because god knows she'd be worse than Rebekah, which is saying a lot. So all that's left was me, and don't say he could've gone to Elena because Jeremy hasn't gone to her with a problem since he was seven years old, so he sure as hell isn't starting now."

"So what, Jeremy wanted to bitch about how I'm just overreacting about him being able to see the ghost of his ex-girlfriend? Or did he want to call me out on being friends with the girl whose psycho brother has been making our lives a living hell?" Bonnie says accusingly, now suddenly becoming defensive - of what, or rather  _who_ , she's not entirely sure.

"Actually, he was more worried about why the hell Rebekah had your phone in the first place," Tyler assures Bonnie in an effort to calm her down, "and he is very, very sorry about the whole Anna situation."

Before Bonnie could respond, they hear Caroline practically snarl from behind them, "Rebekah had your phone?"

The three friends exchange nervous glances, with Bonnie and Matt immediately volunteering Tyler as tribute.

"Hey babe," Tyler starts off nervously, reminding himself to get Bonnie and Matt back later for this, "how long have you been listening?"

"Somewhere around when Bonnie ridiculously claimed that she thought  _Rebekah_  is actually her friend!"

"Caroline – " Matt begins, exchanging worried glances with Tyler, who gestures for him to back up and give the girls some privacy. They walk off, but not before silently mouthing 'good luck' to Bonnie.

Bonnie sighs, climbing off the ladder, knowing that this conversation was inevitable.

"Look, Care -"

"Don't you 'Care' me Miss Bonnie Sheila Bennett! Are you forgetting everything that Klaus has done to us?"

"Of course not -"

"Then why are you suddenly all buddy-buddy with Rebekah?!"

"Because like you said, it was  _Klaus_  who ruined our lives, not Rebekah! So why should she be judged or punished for her brother's actions?" Realizing that she was yelling in plain sight, Bonnie grabbed Caroline's hand, pulling her under a tree.

Bonnie then folds her arms over her chest, hissing, "I  _like her_ , Caroline, she's my friend. You don't know her like I do. You didn't see the look on her face when I told her that Klaus left her here. It was the same look I had on my face when my Grams told me that my mom wasn't coming back, the same look that you had when your dad disappeared, and the same look that Vicki and Matty had the countless times that Kelly up and left. You didn't see how persistent she was when she found out that I can speak twelve languages, you weren't there to see her constantly rag on me about throwing my talents away all throughout calculus yesterday. It's the same as when I convinced you to do Miss Mystic Falls, and when you convinced me to try out for the cheerleading squad. And you certainly weren't there last night when I told her about Vicki and she held me and listened. I was a mess, Care, and all she did was sit there and listen. She's not that different than we are… she's just really fucking old and has a super high body count on her conscience."

Caroline stares at Bonnie intently, noticing how while she was talking about Rebekah, she looked even smaller than she already is. Caroline missed this side of Bonnie, this vulnerable kid with feelings and fears as opposed to the badass witch façade that her friend has going on a regular basis. The supernatural world forced them all to grow up way faster than they should have, but Bonnie especially. She became this stoic, stone cold, mother-like figure who took it upon herself to protect everyone else, completely forgetting about herself in the process, and that killed Caroline because she knows that her best-friend is stubborn as hell and will refuse to believe what a fucking martyr she's turned into.

But it was the blissful, carefree smile on Bonnie's face that became Caroline's main focus, prompting her to ask, "Bonnie, do you...  _like_  Rebekah?"

"Of course I like her, Caroline, I just said –"

"No, like,  _like her_  like her."

"What? No!" Bonnie's eyes widened in a ridiculous, animated character manner, and combined with how flustered that statement made her, Caroline was surprised that she didn't even let out a slight chuckle. It was honestly as if the thought had never even crossed Bonnie's mind, which Caroline found rather interesting since Bonnie seemed to be more drawn towards Rebekah, romantically or otherwise, than anyone else she'd ever dated or had a crush on, judging by the way she spoke about her. "I like her as a  _friend_ , Caroline. Especially since the last girl I liked who liked me back outed me in the worst way possible because she was a biphobic disaster."

It took everything within Caroline to not let her vamp face fly free at the mention of Bonnie's ex-girlfriend. "Yeah, Samantha Rivers deserved to be punched in the face by me. And Vicki. Also, no one has loved Elena more than in that very moment when she was quite literally out for blood, Samantha's to be precise. Matt and I literally had to hold her back because, you know, as horrible as Samantha is, we wouldn't exactly wish death on her. Everyone else had a completely different idea though. Tyler and Vicki were totally filming the whole thing while cheering Elena on, it was literally the one time they seemed genuinely happy to be around her. Jeremy went completely awol, like, none of us had any idea where he was until we saw him literally carrying you into the stoner pit – which we all like to assume happened because you didn't want to leave your bedroom and Jer would not for the life of him stand for it. Honestly, if it wasn't for you though, Elena wouldn't have stopped trying to scratch Samantha's eyes out – bitch grew out her nails for this."

"She did not stop just because I was there –" Bonnie begins to protest, but Caroline was having none of it.

"Um, yes she did. Babe, do you realize how much Elena hates disappointing you? One look, and the girl stopped flailing her arms and legs around like a crazy person – Jesus, Matt and I probably ended up with more bruises than Samantha did – fucking growled at Samantha before marching off in a huff, only to come over later with takeout from that restaurant that you like in the next town over.

And Elena was just the biggest cherry on top of a layered cake of revenge filled with Samantha getting pranked relentlessly by the rest of the cheer squad, Quinn is an evil genius, by the way, I'm surprised she hasn't taken over my spot yet. Not to mention, the football team making Samantha's house a regular on their shit list, and while Matty and Ty are amazing, I hear that Evan was the real hero – he still has that huge crush on you, by the way, since apparently you're not into Rebekah, and let's be real, as much I love Jeremy, based on his recent actions he clearly does not deserve you. And I guess someone outing her love for narcotics and making sure that went on her permanent record during her senior year was pretty damn justified if I do say so myself."

Bonnie smirks at Caroline's attempts at being deceptive during that last statement. "Right, so your mom just so happened to get an anonymous tip, and Aunt Carol just so happened to turn out to have the power to have her expelled from the one school in town while Mayor Lockwood was out of state, basically closing all doors to her future."

"Vicki was more than happy to add that she not only loved drugs, but she loved selling them as well... to minors, such as Jeremy."

Bonnie simply shakes her head. "I still can't believe you all did that."

"Are you kidding? More than half the town knew what really happened. I'm surprised people didn't go after the girl with torches and pitchforks, especially after she brought up them who shall not be named."

"Care, my parents are not Voldemort, and you're totally exaggerating."

"Um, no I'm not. There is a sandwich named after you at the Grill."

Bonnie lets out a sigh of disbelief. "There is not –"

"The Bon-Bon Burger Supreme? The hottest thing on the menu, with no trace of pickles as they were replaced by hot peppers instead, along with switching out the regular mayo for chipotle mayo. Combo comes with sweet potato fries, your favorite, and there's even a breakfast version with eggs and ketchup, which is only liked by one person on this entire planet – you! Don't tell me you've never noticed."

"I honestly hadn't."

Caroline looks appalled. After all these years, her best-friend still hadn't realized how many people love her and how important she truly is. "Bon, ever since we were kids, you were everyone's favorite, despite what her royal highness, Princess Elena Gilbert, would like to believe."

"Caroline -"

"Oh no, let me finish," Caroline holds her index finger up, twirling it in her usual Caroline fashion when she did not want to be interrupted. "You went around town with the biggest smile on your face, always ready and willing to help. Remember when the Grill needed renovations? Who stepped up and gathered every single senior student who was way too lazy to get their community service hours in order to graduate, and helped them gain even more than what they needed? You! And some of them even ended up getting scholarships after helping out with the Grill renovations. You saved Marcus thousands of dollars and helped thirty students graduate, Bonnie.

And who started the neighborhood beautification initiative in middle school, hm? You! You convinced Mayor Lockwood, that utter piece of shit, that the town was looking no better than a heap of trash, and thus the monthly cleanups that started after. Not to mention, you're the one who spent her weekends helping out Miss Flowers with the botanic garden."

"I had selfish motives there because I needed herbs for a spell."

Caroline scoffs. "In the third grade, Bonnie? And are you forgetting the fact that you're literally the town babysitter."

"It's a job, I make money off of that."

"You went above and beyond with your babysitting job! You don't just go and keep an eye on the little troublemakers, you talk to them, you play with them, you become their best-friend - and don't you dare say that was just part of your job!" It takes everything in Caroline to not become frustrated with her friend. Why is it so hard for her to believe how amazing she is?

"Oh, and let's not forget how you covered for Elena every time she had to babysit Pastor Young's kids," she adds on. "You think Pastor Young didn't know that it was you who looked after Violet and April and not Elena? Why do you think Elena never got paid and you ended up with at least twenty bucks in your bank account after every job?"

"He knew all along?" Bonnie seems genuinely surprised, leaving Caroline to wonder how the most observant person she knew could also be oblivious to something so obvious.

"Of course he did! Elena can barely manage to take care of her own brother, you think she'd do any better with those two? Especially with one of them being a toddler?"

Bonnie was about to respond, when a familiar blue Camaro unfortunately came to a stop in front of them.

"Witchy," Damon greets Bonnie first, then glancing at Caroline, "Barbie,"

"Demon," Bonnie says cheerfully, with a bright smile on her face, making Damon think that she had just been possessed by Caroline.

"Satan who's an insult to Satan," Caroline sneers at him, with Damon fighting back with his usual shit-eating grin.

Rolling his eyes, he says, "Whatever. I need the Wicked Witch of the West over here to figure out where all these ghosts are coming from because I'm pretty sure Mason Lockwood just tried to kill me. I'm talking hot poker to the chest, swiping my daylight ring, and roasting me under the sun."

"Well he had a pretty good reason," they hear Tyler pipe up, walking over to the girls with Matt in tow. "You killed him you asshole. Also, I happen to like my asshole vampires burnt to a crisp, Mason knows that."

"Whatever Lockwood - look, when I kill someone, I prefer that they stay dead." Then, turning his head to Bonnie, he makes a point to add, "So  _you_ , Sabrina, better fix this."

"I certainly hope for your sake that this your unique and twisted way of requesting a beautiful young lady to do your dirty work for you," Rebekah appears and stands in front of Bonnie, taking everyone by surprise, "and that you were just about to add a 'please' at the end of that sentence because otherwise, I would be more than happy to give you an even more painful repeat of last night, this time with an actual stake, which moreover is now laced with vervain – thank you Tyler!" Rebekah looks over her shoulder and winks at the hybrid, who mock salutes her before she turns her head back to face Damon.

"I see why you like her," Caroline tells Bonnie and Tyler.

"Yeah, I understand the appeal," adds Matt.

Rebekah smiles to herself unknowingly, unable to understand why she felt Matt and Caroline's approval actually meant the world to her, while still glaring at Damon. "And you're still sitting around on your ass because?"

"Yeah, why don't  _you_  do something about Mason, Damon? He's more your problem than ours," Caroline points out.

"Why should Bonnie even be fixing your problems in the first place when all you do is order her around?" Matt practically growls at the vampire.

"This isn't my problem Damon, it's clearly yours, have fun fixing it," Bonnie declares before marching off.

Rather than retaliating, Damon simply grumbles something about five against one being completely unfair before he speeds off.

"I would throw something at that car if I didn't love it so much," remarks Matt.

"Agreed," says Rebekah, nodding as she stares after the beautiful vehicle.

Matt raises an eyebrow, intrigued. "You like cars?"

"Love, I was around when they invented cars."

"I see your point."

"That's all fine and dandy," Caroline butts in, "but I think Bonnie might actually be trying to fix this Mason problem."

"Ghosts classify as a witch problem," Bonnie is quick to protest when she sees the disapproving glances she's getting from her friends, "of course I have to figure out how to fix it."

"Yeah, well leave me out of it," Matt states firmly, reliving the events of last night, "I think I've dealt with enough ghosts to last a lifetime."

Tyler sighs as he watches their friend leave. "I'll go see how he's doing."

"Poor guy," Caroline begins to say once they're out of earshot, "it took a lot for him to send his sister away." Bonnie saddens at the words, 'his sister,' which is immediately noticed by Rebekah who nudges the blonde, gesturing towards Bonnie, making Caroline want to kick herself for being so insensitive.

"Bon, I'm so sorry –" Caroline's words are cut off by Bonnie's grimoire flying out of her bag and wide open onto the street.

The three girls widen their eyes in panic, checking to see if anyone else saw before Bonnie bends down to pick up the book.

"Why did your grimoire just commit suicide?" Caroline remarks, causing Rebekah to snort at the comment.

Bonnie ignores them, instead reading over the page her grimoire had just opened to, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion in doing so.

"This is a manifestation spell," she tells her friends. "A spell that's supposed to reveal veiled matter."

"What's veiled matter?" asks Caroline, as Rebekah simply shrugs when the blonde looks to her for help, prompting both girls to turn to Bonnie for an answer.

"Ghosts."

* * *

 

Bonnie, Caroline, and Rebekah are quick to arrive at the witch house, heading downstairs to the basement where Bonnie starts to set up for the spell.

"So... a hundred witches were burnt alive here?" states Caroline, awkwardly looking around the old structure.

"Mmhm," is Bonnie's response as she reads over the spell.

"And they don't really like vampires, and they tend to be vengeful, and we have a spell that can make ghosts come back and –"

Bonnie calms her down by sending an assuring smile her way and telling her, "Caroline, they don't really hate vampires, just Damon because he's Damon. They were really nice to Stefan when he was here."

"What she  _means_  to say is, calm the fuck down," Rebekah says with a sickeningly sweet smile.

Caroline glares at the Original. "Charming. Bon, do you need us to do anything, maybe light some candles or –" Caroline is cut off by candles lighting up all around the room.

"Guess not," drawls Rebekah.

" _Phasmatos Obscuram, Ex Luces Estnes Qua Umbres. Natus Ignavum Evitem. Phasmatos Obscuram, Ex Luces Estnes Qua Umbres,_ " Bonnie chants, flames burning brighter and hotter, growing larger and larger, the ground shaking, causing the various knickknacks around the house to clatter and shatter.

"Bonnie, I really don't like this!" Caroline screams in protest, moving further and further away from the growing flames, trying to get through to her friend.

Rebekah, equally as frightened for Bonnie, shouts over the all the ruckus going on around them, "I agree with Caroline! Bonnie, please, stop this now!" When that doesn't work, Rebekah, realizing that their words were having little effect on their friend, demands, "Bonnie, are you listening?"

And suddenly, everything stops.

There's an elderly woman sitting in front of Bonnie, one that Rebekah certainly did not recognize, grasping onto her hands for dear life, causing Bonnie to open her eyes, startled.

A shocked Caroline starts to say, "Oh my god, it's –" only to be cut off by Rebekah who demands, "Who is that?"

But then, noticing the tears welling up in the Bennett witch's eyes, it didn't take Rebekah long to realize who that woman might be.

"Grams."

* * *

 

Meanwhile, at the Grille, Damon and Alaric were sitting at the bar with Damon trying to get back into Alaric's good graces and Alaric completely ignoring him. They are then joined by Tyler - the literal kicked puppy as Matt had demanded that his friend leave him alone, frustrating Tyler because all he wanted to do was help his best-friend - who Alaric side eyes in a slightly disapproving manner, causing the hybrid to throw his arms up in surrender.

"Relax, Ric, I'm not gonna' drink anything." Alaric, satisfied with his response, goes back to his drink.

"So Damon," Tyler then says to the vampire, causing Damon to dramatically tilt his head towards him, "what's it like solving your own problems?"

"Yeah buddy," Alaric pipes up from his spot on the other side of Damon, "how's that workin' out for ya'?" It takes everything in Tyler for him to not burst out laughing, causing Damon to roll his eyes and glare at the two men flanking him on both sides.

"I fucking hate you both."

"Aw, Damon, I'm hurt," they hear a familiar male voice say, all three men turning their heads in the same direction, only to find a certain dead werewolf sitting beside Tyler.

"Uncle Mason?" Tyler's eyes light up, a giddy smile on his face.

Mason smiles fondly at his nephew, the same way he did the first time he saw this very same expression on Tyler's face whenever he would come visit. But before he could greet his nephew, someone says, "You're hurt? Get in line buddy."

Tyler leans over Mason, widening his eyes his in surprise as he blurts out, "Vicki?!" causing Damon to spit out his drink and look in the same direction Tyler was.

"And that's my cue to leave!" Alaric declares, eager to get back to his apartment and maybe fill his appetite with actual food rather than alcohol, read a nice book, take a nap.

"Have fun with this!" he then tells Damon, gesturing excitedly towards the others, trying to stifle his growing laughter at this situation. "Oh, and if any of you happen to kill him, just know that I owe you one."

"Thanks friend!" Damon calls out to him sarcastically, only to have Alaric respond by flipping him off.

Once Alaric is gone, Damon notices Mason and Vicki staring at him, causing him to groan, "What do you guys want?"

"To kill you, for one," Vicki tells him.

"I'm totally down with that," says Tyler, nodding his head in agreement.

"Lockwood!" Damon yells, outraged, as if he actually expected Tyler to defend him, making the hybrid genuinely confused as to what goes on through that twisted mind of Damon's.

"You're a dick, the only person dumb enough to care about you, other than your brother, is Elena, which is a given since she's an absolute idiot."

He later adds, as an afterthought, "I say that out of love, I promise."

Vicki snorts. "No you don't."

"God, yeah, no, I really don't."

"Again,  _what_  do you guys want?" Damon barks. "An apology?"

Mason finally speaks up. "You think some half ass apology is why we're wasting our valuable time with you?"

"Well, it is a very human thing to do."

Vicki leans over Mason so that Damon could get a closer look at the fury etched on her face. "You are an utter piece of shit, and quite possibly the biggest jerk I have ever met, and I dated Tyler Lockwood." Vicki then snaps her head to look at Tyler and quickly adds, "No offense, I swear, it was right there!"

"None taken," Tyler assures her, smiling in her direction, "I fully deserved that. Now, I'm assuming that there's something really important that you guys have to get done, otherwise, you wouldn't be here.

"Well, we also wanted to see you pal," Mason tells his nephew.

"Thanks uncle Mason."

Vicki smiles at the exchange between uncle and nephew before changing the topic.

"But you're also right, Ty, we have some business to attend to."

Mason sighs. "Yeah. You guys remember the old Lockwood cellar?"

"Unfortunately," grumbles Tyler.

"Well, there might be something there that can help you guys defea-  _learn more_  about Klaus." Mason and Vicki both exchange similar glances of 'that was a close call' because as much as they love Tyler, they know that he can't help but be sired to Klaus and do everything he says.

"And this involves me because…" Damon trails off, feeling utterly bored at the moment.

"Is he for real?" Vicki snaps, seriously wondering how she could've ever thought that befriending this asshole was a good idea. Look where it got her to!

"He made Bonnie help cover his carpet with an old sheet because he didn't want to get my blood on it," Mason informs them.

Vicki simply stares at him in disbelief. "What the fuck?"

"I'm honestly not even surprised," remarks Tyler.

"Does no one else hear me when I speak?" Damon snarls at them.

"Yeah, but we just choose to ignore you. Now get off your ass, we're going to the old Lockwood cellar because apparently, you're necessary, which is so weird because usually, Bonnie does everything with Stefan as the backup, while you sit around on your ass all day calling the shots."

"I'll snap your neck if I have to," Vicki happily informs her sire. "God I really want to – can I just snap his neck?"

"And who's gonna' carry an unconscious council member in broad daylight, the two of us who are supposed to be dead?" Mason snipes at her.

"Or, maybe the mayor's son could –"

"Hell no," Tyler cuts Vicki off at lightning speed.

"What, are those muscles just for show Lockwood?"

Clearly fed up, Damon bangs his fist on the counter and growls, "I'm getting up, Jesus!"

Vicki still thinks that she should've at least gotten to punch him the face before they left the Grille.

Tyler and Mason agreed.

Damon wanted to die.

* * *

 

Back at the witch house, Bonnie couldn't keep up her strong exterior any longer as the moment she opened her eyes and found her Grams sitting in front of her, she couldn't stop the tears that have been itching to break out.

"I can't believe you're here - how are you here?!" Bonnie tries her best not to choke on her tears as her Grams tries to console her.

"That doesn't matter now sweetie. You've created quite the mess for yourself. The witches told you that there would be consequences to bringing Jeremy back and you went ahead anyway."

"How could I not?! He died trying to save  _me_ , grams, and I love him so much, I couldn't let him go, not like that. I've known him all my life, he's my best friend, I don't what I'd do if I lost him! I'd already had to let Vicki go that year, and then  _you_ , and I just – I didn't want to lose anyone else that I love."

"I know, baby, believe me. But what you did left the gates to the Other Side wide open, especially when you pushed Vicki away, and a witch took advantage of that, of  _you_."

"What  _witch_  grams?" Bonnie is suddenly livid - frustrated and confused, all the emotions that she had bottled up making themselves known at once.

"That's Original Witch business, and I want you nowhere near it." Sheila's tone is stern, clearly indicating that she wanted her granddaughter to actually listen to her for once and leave this mess alone. The elder Bennett witch then turns to Rebekah. "You must be Rebekah. Word on the street is that you've caught my granddaughter's eye."

Bonnie's cheeks heat up as she pleadingly hisses to her grandmother, "Grams, stop!"

"Hush child!"

Rebekah finds herself giggling at the interaction between the two Bennett women, further proving to her that Bonnie did have an inner child in there somewhere.

"Hello to you too," says Rebekah, slightly nervous as Sheila was very, very intimidating in the way that she carried herself, but kept a bright smile on her face regardless. "You must be Miss Sheila Bennett."

"Oh, Ayana was right about you – you're quite the charmer."

Rebekah's eyebrows practically skyrocket to her hairline at this new information, her smile widening to such an extent that no one ever knew was possible. "Ayana has spoken about me?"

"You and that brother of yours are her favorite topic of discussion." Rebekah chuckles at that, remembering how much time she and Kol would spend around Ayana. They were around her more than they were their own mother.

She breaks out of her thoughts when she hears Sheila say, "Hello Caroline."

"Hi Miss Sheila!" Caroline says gleefully, waving at Grams, tears welling up in her own eyes.

Sheila Bennett smiles fondly at the young blonde. If you asked her to choose between Elena and Caroline as a better friend to her beloved granddaughter, she would choose Caroline in a heartbeat.

When Caroline first came over to their house, age four, she first sauntered over to Sheila and happily declared, "Hi Miss Sheila! My name is Caroline, and I'm Bonnie's new best-friend cuz' she played with me in the sandbox when I was all alone and I was too scared to play tag with all the other kids. Instead, she helped me build a pretty castle and said that I could be the princess, so then I said that we're both princesses because we built it together!"

And then there was Elena who continued on with, "Well I'm Bonnie's actual best-friend, right Mrs. Bennett?"

And that was the birth of Caroline and Elena's ongoing feud and constant need to be in competition with each other, with Bonnie getting stuck in the middle of course.

Over the years though, Sheila, noticed certain differences between the girls that others, her granddaughter included, were blind to.

Liz raised Caroline to be aware of the fact that rules in their own home are much different from rules in other places, leading Caroline to always be cautious and observant of what she said and did. Miranda and Grayson on the other hand, treated their daughter like a princess, never scolding her for her actions as if she was the most perfect angel to grace this world, leading her to behave as she would in her home. She would go to her friends' houses and expect to get picked up after. She'd go to school and pick fights, thinking that she had some sort of magical safety blanket where rules don't apply to her – something she did eventually learn the hard way.

While Caroline worked hard for everything – whether it was school, or cheerleading, or even with boys, Elena had everything handed to her on a silver platter because of who her parents were.

There's a reason why the Gilberts are everyone's least favorite of the founding family members.

Caroline, as crazy and neurotic as she is, cares so much more about her friends than Elena ever did. Even as children, Elena in all her self-centered glory would call out, "Bonnie, Caroline, how would you two like to fight over who gets to be my lady-in-waiting?"

Caroline would then protest, "Elena, it's  _Bonnie's_  turn to choose what we play, and even then, you can't always be the princess!"

"But I  _am_  the princess," Elena would stomp her feet and argue, "mommy and daddy said so!"

"Yeah, well your mommy and daddy aren't here, so there!" Caroline would retort, snatching the purple tiara off of Elena's head and happily putting on top of Bonnie's, always declaring that it looks so much better on her anyway. Bonnie would then glance guiltily at a fuming Elena and silently plead to Caroline to give Elena what she wanted, but Caroline always held her ground.

Or when they got to middle school, and Elena would always make fun of Jeremy and say that he's the dumb sibling since she gets better grades and 'the fourth grade is so easy,' and Caroline just marched away from her with Bonnie, Matt and even Tyler in tow, barging into Jeremy's room, declaring that they were going to sit there and help him understand fractions until he got it, even sleeping over if they had to.

Or even in high school when, before getting together with Matt, who had the biggest crush on the brunette ever since the sixth grade, Elena would always go out with a different guy at least once a month, sometimes making everyone else think that she knew about Matt's crush and threw it all in his face on purpose, with Caroline always ready and willing to pick up the pieces in having her famous brownies ready to go, or slow dancing with him at every school dance and social event if that's what it took.

And that's what it took because lo and behold, one fine day, Elena decided she didn't like how close Caroline and Matt were, and marched over to them, pulling Matt away from her, and completely ignoring the heartbreak on her face.

Sheila watched that girl cry in Bonnie's lap for three days.

She could go on and on about Caroline, how it was her that convinced Bonnie to try out for the cheerleading squad, or how she was the one cheering the loudest at every single dance and piano recital. It was Caroline who stood up for her friends every single time, it was Caroline who protected them, never Elena.

So why her granddaughter was so very fond of the Gilbert girl was beyond her. She couldn't figure it out with Abby and Miranda, and she sure as hell can't figure it out with Bonnie and Elena. Despite everything, Bonnie chose to stand by Elena through it all, and Sheila doesn't think that she'll ever figure out why.

"Now, enough chit-chat!" Sheila declares, mainly to stop her travels down memory lane. "In order to send these ghosts away, I need Ayana's talisman."

"Ayana's talisman?" questions Bonnie

"My necklace," Rebekah pipes up, "or rather, Elena's necklace. Alright, who's going to have the misfortune of calling that waste of space."

Caroline sighs. "I'll do it." Taking her phone out of the back pocket of her black jeans, Caroline finds Elena's number and calls her.

"Hello?" Caroline, and Rebekah, hear Elena say.

"Hey, Lena. Do you have any idea where your necklace could be? It's kind of the one thing that we need to send all these ghosts back."

"Um, I'm pretty sure Damon has it. Can you just ask him?" Elena sounded distracted, as if this shouldn't be her biggest problem. "I kind of have my hands full with helping Lexi get through to Stefan."

Caroline furrows her eyebrows in confusion as Rebekah makes a mental note to gather information about Lexi later on. "Lexi, what – okay, never mind that. Elena, are you absolutely sure that you have no idea where the necklace is? Damon's not exactly the most cooperative person in the world."

Elena sounded frustrated from the dramatic sigh the two blondes had just heard her let out, like she was about to snap. "Honestly Caroline, I really don't think now is the right time for you to be rehashing your Damon drama. You're both vampires, he's harmless. He doesn't  _bite_  you know."

And that was when Caroline ended the call. Bonnie and Sheila glance at her strangely, almost worried at the look on her face, but Caroline forces a smile regardless.

"I'm going to try and get to Damon," she tells them, "see if he can remember where he put that damn necklace. You try to figure out the spell and get everything ready, I'll call you later, promise."

As Caroline was about to leave, Rebekah's voice stops her. "Hold on Caroline! I'll come with you."

Caroline simply nods at the Original before running off full vamp speed ahead, with a concerned Rebekah right on her tail.

Upon arriving at the boarding house, the first thing that Caroline does is text Damon about the necklace, and thankfully, he responds immediately and informs her that it's somewhere in his bedroom.

"Okay, I texted Bonnie, she'll meet us here in about half an hour or so," Caroline tells Rebekah.

"Great! This gives us plenty of time to discuss why what Elena said set you off the way that it did."

Caroline's immediate reaction is to get defensive and deny everything. "I don't know what you're talking about, we have –"

"Don't start with me American Barbie," Rebekah's tone is firm, kind of reminding Caroline of Sheila. "I saw the look on your face when Elena said the word 'bite,' and I saw how hard you were trying to restrain yourself from shattering your phone. You are not angry, Caroline, you are upset, so very upset. Now please, tell me what's wrong."

Caroline bites her lip, sitting down on a nearby chair, twiddling her thumbs in her lap as she looked down at her feet, hoping that if she kept her voice small enough, even Rebekah's vampire hearing wouldn't be able to pick up what she was saying.

"Damon used to feed on me."

"WHAT?!" Rebekah's reaction is immediate – it was one of confusion and pure rage.

That was the last thing that the Original had expected to hear.

Caroline kept her head down, prompting Rebekah to force herself to calm down because her shouting at the top of her lungs was the last thing that the poor girl needed right now.

Rebekah kneels down in front of her, at first reaching for her hand, but then, noticing the way Caroline flinched and immediately retracted said hand, Rebekah decided that touch, no matter how comforting, was not on the table right now. Instead, Rebekah softly says, "Caroline, look at me." Surprisingly, the baby vampire does as she's told, causing Rebekah to let out a sigh of relief.

_Baby steps_ , she thought.

"Alright, good," Rebekah keeps her tone gentle, keeping a smile on her face in order to comfort Caroline. "Now, I want you to tell me exactly what Damon did. Can you do that for me?" Caroline nods, taking a deep breath before she begins.

"Damon used me as his own personal blood bag last year. At first, it was fine –  _I_  was fine! He was just this really hot new guy in town and I was so desperate for love, especially after Stefan rejected me for Elena and my inferiority complex towards her reached a whole other level. He didn't compel me to have sex with him, not the first time at least. But from what I started remembering after I turned, the second, third, and so forth only happened because he compelled me."

Rebekah stayed silent - this was the time for Caroline to talk, and for someone to listen.

And listen she did, intently at that, picking up the sound of Caroline's tears, the fact that she couldn't breathe through her nose because of how stuffed it was with all her crying and lastly, the sound of Caroline's voice breaking, driving Rebekah absolutely mad as she was merely left to wonder how Caroline's heart was faring if this was the state of her bloody voice.

"He was cruel, Rebekah, and downright abusive." Caroline has pulled her legs up to her chest, with her feet resting on the seat as she held on to her legs tightly. "He drove me insane because sometimes I'd wake up and have blood on my pillow and holes in my neck and not know what the hell is going on. He tore me apart! Not just physically and mentally, but emotionally as well. He'd tell me how I was never good enough, that it was never going to be me, and how I am just so  _useless_  that this so-called relationship was the best that I could possibly do. And the worst part -" Caroline stops herself, her sudden flood of emotions holing themselves back up in their cage within the bottomless pit that was Caroline Forbes's heart.

Caroline is silent. No words make their way out of her mouth as she simply sits in her curled up position and breathes in and out. And Rebekah lets her. Caroline made no indication for her to speak, so she will not speak. If Caroline wants to sit there, breathing for hours, then so be it.

Caroline's scuffed boot-clad feet hitting the creaky floorboard of Damon's room is what catches Rebekah's attention. The young blonde had stood up, prompting Rebekah to take a stand as well. Her arms were folded over her chest, her eyes looking past Rebekah, and at the wall. Rebekah, on the other hand, stares patiently at the baby vampire, head tilted to the side, eyes trained on her every movement.

Caroline begins to speak once more, "The worst part about  _all_  of this is not what Damon did to me, no. It's everything that happened after. I made a choice to keep this from my mom, because she trusts Damon so much, and I know that she would just blame this on herself, so I kept quiet. I didn't tell Jeremy or Matt, because I know that they'd go ballistic and do something stupid like go after Damon and then end up killed. And I know for a fact that it takes so much for Bonnie and Tyler to not murder him when he's in their line of sight, and the only reason why they've held off for so long is because I don't want to have to deal with what Elena would do afterward.  _That's_  my biggest concern - Elena! Everything in my life always,  _always_ , boils down to Elena. What would Elena do? What would Elena think?"

Caroline finally looks at Rebekah, who doesn't know whether she should kill Damon or make him watch her torture Elena first.

"She's supposed to be my  _friend_ , Rebekah! Yeah, she's not always the greatest, I know that. She can be selfish, and impulsive, but at the end of the day, she cares about all of us, I know that. We've grown up together and we've been through so much - we're practically family. Isn't that supposed to mean something? How could she just accept him with open arms after everything he's done?! Not just to me, but to Vicki, and Jeremy, and Bonnie! What the actual fuck is wrong with her? I don't – I just don't get it. What is it about Damon Salvatore that has driven her to such an extent that she can't see how it makes me sick whenever I so much as hear his damn name?"

Seeing Caroline, a girl who was normally filled with spunk and ready to fight with her stupid little fists as her only weapon of defense, break down had Rebekah realizing just how hard everyone – Caroline, Bonnie, Tyler, and probably even Matt – all had to try shove their emotions into a corner and throw their youth away in order to  _survive_ , of all things. Seeing the way Caroline broke down in front her right now, and the way Bonnie did earlier, truly made Rebekah wonder how they were able to keep it all in, how it doesn't drive them absolutely insane to ignore what they're feeling because Elena fucking Gilbert's life is at stake, or they're afraid that her fucking feelings will be hurt.

Caroline's situation reminded Rebekah of her own – being thrust into this world of vampires, witches, and werewolves which you would have much rather preferred to be in the dark about. Bonnie and Tyler had no choice, they were born into the supernatural world and would one day have to embrace their supernatural heritage eventually.

Being friends with the doppelganger just sped up the process. Along with her brother's interference of course.

But Caroline, Caroline could've lived a blissful life without finding out a single thing about the supernatural world. She wasn't born a supernatural creature, nor was she a part of any one of the founding families. If Damon Salvatore hadn't barged his way into town, Caroline wouldn't be like this right now, and Elena's tendency to turn a blind eye to whatever Damon does isn't exactly helping the situation either. He took away her choice, her choice to not get herself involved in the supernatural world, just like how her father took away hers all those centuries ago.

Rebekah looks the younger vampire in the eye, taking her hands into her own, not removing them when she sees that Caroline doesn't flinch.

"Caroline, I think that you, me, and everyone else in this godforsaken town knows that Elena Gilbert is nothing but an insensitive, self-centered little girl who thinks that the world revolves around her. You did not deserve what Damon did to you, no one deserves that! And you know what else you don't deserve? The utterly pathetic excuse for a friend that Elena Gilbert is. This entire situation is bloody fucked up and I will be damned if I have to see you continue to _live with it_. Now dry your tears little one, no sense in flooding a perfectly decent living space for those two numbskulls."

Caroline chuckles at that last statement as she wipes her tears away. "You're right," she tells Rebekah. "You are absolutely right, thank you, I really needed that. I can see why Bonnie likes you so much."

"Bonnie said she likes me?" Caroline swears that she hears Rebekah's squeak, her pitch skyrocketing, which makes her laugh even harder.

"And she's also right about the fact that you are absolutely precious. Now come on, I think I just heard her car pull up."

The two girls race outside to meet their friend, feeling as though a huge weight has been lifted off both their shoulders.

* * *

 

Elsewhere, the old Lockwood cellar to precise, Mason, Vicki and Tyler were trying their very best to not smash Damon skull onto the stone walls of the cellar.

"Okay, what the hell are we doing here?" Damon whines for the seventeenth time.

"This isn't exactly my idea of a good time either," drawls Vicki, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, you think any of us actually  _want_  to be around you?" snaps Mason.

"Especially when you're breathing?" adds Tyler, earning nods of agreement from Vicki and Mason.

"Alright, alright, I get it! You all hate me and quite possibly want to kill me, get in line. Stefan is already leading the charge, but Bonnie and Caroline might get rid of him so that they can get first dibs."

"How have you been around for over a century?" Tyler is genuinely curious to know.

"I'm smart, tactile –  _a survivor_."

"More like you turn off your humanity and stop giving a shit about pretty much everything, leaving a trail of bodies in your wake," Vicki points out, earning a raised eyebrow from Damon. "Yeah, I met Lexi. She was really nice and I'm a little pissed that Stefan refused to kill you after you so rudely murdered her! Especially since the last time you saw her, you left her stranded in broad daylight where she could've burned to death. Also, you broke her heart, you fucking bitch."

"Why are you still alive?" Tyler wonders out loud.

"Guys," Mason cuts in, "as much as I love this, we kind of need this idiot." He then points towards a certain area of the wall that was different from the others – made of brick rather than stone, and hands Damon a shovel, telling him, "Break through that."

"What, are you crazy?"

"No, I have a plan, so just do as I fucking say."

Damon sighs, giving in as he snatches the shovel from Mason's hands, furiously using it in order to break through the wall.

"Alright, so which one of you crazies is going through that first?" The others glance at each other before Vicki quite literally kicks Damon's ass, sending him face first into the cave.

Damon lands on the ground with a thud, still refusing to believe that Vicki Donovan of all people just made him look like an absolute idiot.

"I really fucking hate you guys," he growls, getting up, taking a mere step forward before getting stabbed with wooden spikes appearing out of nowhere – most likely some sort of trigger. "Guys! Hey! A little help here."

Mason, grabbing the shovel that Damon had dropped before Vicki kicked him, says, "I'll go help him out, I think you two might need to talk." Mason then stops for a second before turning back towards his nephew. "Hey Ty, try and stay out of trouble, okay? And tell Bonnie to quit ragging on herself for leaving me alone with Damon even though she had a feeling that he might kill me. It's not her fault, so she shouldn't be beating herself up over it. And neither should Jeremy, for that matter. He's a kid, even more so than the rest of you, he shouldn't have even been involved in this mess in the first place."

"Will do," Tyler assures him as he and Vicki watch his uncle retreat into the cave to go help out Damon.

Tyler then turns to Vicki nervously, shoving his sweaty palms as deep into the pockets of his jeans as he possibly could. "He's right you know, we do need to talk." Vicki simply gives him a small smile and a nod, indicating that he should continue, causing Tyler to let out a small sigh of relief before he continued, "I never really got the change to apologize to you for how I treated you. It was not okay, Vicks, on so many levels and for so many reasons. I want so badly to use the whole 'werewolf gene gets me on an anger high' thing as an excuse... but I can't. That was all on me, because I didn't know a good thing when I saw it, and because I was an unappreciative asshole and an all-around terrible human being towards you. You didn't deserve to be treated like some unloved, second-class citizen, especially given your past and the fact that I've known you since we were kids. You're one of my closest friends, Vicki, and I am so very sorry for not only ruining our friendship, beyond repair, but also for breaking your heart."

Vicki bites her lower lip at seeing Tyler Lockwood looking down at the ground in shame, shuffling his feet due to his nerves. Vicki thought that nothing would ever hurt her the way her father, and then her mother, leaving did. She was wrong, because the way Tyler treated made her feel just as bad. She always thought that she had Tyler figured out - knew him like the back of her hand.

And she still does.

"I know, Ty," Vicki begins to say, the sound of her soft voice making him bring his head back up to look her in the eyes. "I watched you beat yourself up over this and I wanted nothing more than to tell you that it was okay, that  _I_  was okay, but I couldn't... for obvious reasons. I know you, Tyler, always have, always will. The whole jerk-jock act? Yeah, it fucking hurt to be on the receiving end of it, but I know what all that was about. You had this reputation that you built and thought that you had to protect, hence why you also treated Jeremy like absolute shit.

You've probably had the most sheltered life out of all of us - no, I am not counting Elena Gilbert, I think you know me better than that - and that's why you felt the need to cause pain, it's because you've never really known what it's like. Even when your dad, may he burn in hell, berated you and tried to tear you down, it didn't affect you. It was as if your father's words were completely meaningless to you and god you have no idea how much I wished that I could be like you in that very moment, to feel no pain. I used to think that you just had a stellar poker face, but damn Lockwood, you just didn't give a shit. Am I doing good so far?" Tyler chuckles, causing Vicki to go on.

"The first time I ever saw sadness in your eyes was when you watched that video of Mason turning into a werewolf. It was like you felt the physical pain that Mason was feeling, you couldn't even sit through the whole thing because seeing your uncle in that state made you want to die. Tyler, you have never felt true pain until you had to go through this entire process of becoming a werewolf, and now a hybrid - that's changed you,  _a lot_. It's kind of ironic, really, if you think about it."

"What is?"

"The fact that the very thing that's supposed to de-humanize you or whatever is the one thing that makes you human. I'm really proud of you, Tyler. You are not that same jerk kid who was borderline just Damon without his murderous tendencies. I even saw how you were with Jeremy, how you finally grew the fuck up and apologized, which may or may not have something to do with that huge crush you have on him, but that's for another time. Point is, you are going to have a wonderful life ahead of you, Tyler, I just know it. Especially after you manage to get rid of this goddamn sire bond because honestly, it is such a buzz kill."

Tyler grins, simply pulling his best-friend in for a hug which she happily returns. "God I missed you!"

"I missed you too."

"I don't have a crush on Jeremy."

"You keep telling yourself that buddy."

"I love you, you delusional bitch."

"I love you too, you asshole. Even though you smell like shit."

Pulling away from the hug, Tyler lightly shoves her, playfully saying, "Fuck off Donovan."

Vicki glances at him, a teasing smile playing on her lips. "Dammit Lockwood, why do you always have to go and ruin the moment?"

Before he could respond, Tyler feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. Pulling it out, Tyler sees that it's a text from Caroline, his eyes widening in panic as he reads it.

"Caroline says they're in trouble," he informs Vicki. "I gotta go find her."

"I'll come with you," Vicki is quick to declare. "A little backup never hurt anyone."

Tyler gives her a slight nod in appreciation before calling out, "Hey, Uncle Mason -"

"I heard you!" he yells back, followed by Damon yelling in pain. "Go ahead, help your friends. Just stay safe alright?"

"Ghost here Mason," Vicki reminds him before she and Tyler share a look and speed off to find their friends.

* * *

 

Earlier, at the Salvatore Boarding House, Caroline had once again decided to call Elena as they had yet to find the necklace. "Elena, are sure Damon has the necklace? Because we can't find it!"

"Yes, I'm sure unless.."

"Unless  _what_  Elena?"

"Anna!"

"Anna? She's there?"

"Jeremy kissed her."

Caroline groans, immediately locking eyes with Rebekah who glances sadly at Bonnie. "Oh god, this is a mess. Give Jeremy the fucking phone!"

"No, Caroline, you guys need to hold off on sending the ghosts away!" Elena protests. "Lexi almost got through to Stefan and –"

Between the stress of the situation and her breakdown less than half an hour ago, Caroline had reached her peak with Elena. She honestly wanted to strangle her friend at this point.

"Elena, we don't have time for  _almost_!" she all but screams into the phone. "Look, Stefan is my friend, I want to help him too. But right now, what we really need to do is send these ghosts away, otherwise, we will have an even bigger problem on our hands, so give Jeremy the fucking phone already so that I can talk to him."

Elena grouses for a while before Caroline hears Jeremy's voice.

"Hey Care –"

"Don't you dare 'hey care' me, Gilbert – you know what, you're not even worth this. Did Anna steal the goddamn necklace or not?"

Jeremy sighs sadly on the other side of the phone as he admits, "Yes, yes she did."

"Well get your sorry ass and that demonic piece of metal to the witch house stat. We'll meet you there, and do not mention Anna to Bonnie, or I will rip your head off myself as Rebekah gleefully watches and films for future reference when we need to threaten the next idiot that Bonnie falls for – god I wish we had that for Samantha. Yes, you are now bordering Samantha Rivers territory, expect the football team to egg your house, the cheer squad to give you a goddamn heart attack, and me to convince Bonnie that dating Evan is the best idea ever because you suck, you dipshit. Oh, and you have less than fifteen minutes, so move it!"

Once Caroline ends the call, she turns back to Bonnie and Rebekah, with Rebekah staring at her, impressed.

"That was kind of epic."

"Caroline was born epic," Bonnie says to Rebekah as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, then turning her attention to Caroline. "Now, what's this about Anna?"

"She stole the necklace."

Bonnie narrows her eyes at her best-friend, noting the hesitation in her tone and the way she played with her hands as she responded.

Caroline was hiding something.

"Caroline, honey, I know that there's something that you're not telling me. What is it?"

Caroline, for once in her life, is at a loss for words. How was she supposed to tell her best-friend that the guy she loved, that she risked everything for, just threw it all away by cheating on her?

"Jeremy and Anna, they… they…"

Rebekah, realizing that Caroline wasn't exactly having the easiest time breaking the news to Bonnie, decides to do it for her.

"They kissed, Bonnie."

Bonnie face hardens. "What?"

Rebekah moves in closer to the Bennett witch. "Jeremy and Anna. They kissed."

"He kissed her?" Bonnie's voice breaks, breaking Rebekah's heart in the process.

"Bonnie, I am so sorry."

"I can't believe he kissed her."

Then, Caroline moves closer towards her as Rebekah did, her hands resting on Bonnie's shoulder blades. "Yes, they kissed, but that doesn't matter because we are sending her, and the rest of these Casper wannabes, far, far away, alright?" Bonnie nods furiously, prompting Caroline to let go of her shoulders. "Okay then, let's get to the witch house."

In the midst of driving to the witch house, Bonnie stops the car with a screech of the tires.

"That's Aunt Carol over there!" Bonnie points to a beat-up car with an unconscious Carol Lockwood sitting inside.

"Oh my god, are those are tomb vampires that are walking towards her?" Caroline practically shrieks.

"Crap!" Bonnie's about to get out of the car when Caroline stops her.

"You need to be at the witch house right now. I'll go help Carol, you, drive as fast as you can," Caroline then points to Rebekah, "and you, keep her safe, please."

"Caroline –"

"You heard the baby vamp," Rebekah cuts her off before she could protest, "step on it, Bennett." Bonnie grumbles as Caroline gets out of the car, swinging left and right at the tomb vampires as Bonnie drives faster than she ever has in order to get rid of these damn ghosts once and for all.

Meanwhile, Carol Lockwood was slowly opening her eyes, only to find a sight that she never expected to see. She watched from afar as Caroline Forbes fought her way through the masses, just to save her. She was suddenly ridden with guilt for ever thinking that the girl in front of her was never good enough.

Carol had watched these kids grow up before her very eyes. She was never fond of the Gilberts to begin with, Jeremy being the only one that she could possibly ever stand what with Elena's selfish tendencies. The girl was much too full of herself in Carol's opinion, and could definitely use a reality check. Bonnie and Matt were always her favorites – good kids, raised right, polite and kind-hearted – they were almost like her own children. Caroline and Vicki were another story.

Contrary to popular belief, the two girls got along like a house fire, with Caroline as the brains in their devious schemes and Vicki as the brawn. She'd always seen the two as childish and petty, unable to do just about anything right. Not to mention, Carol wasn't the biggest fan of their methods for handling their problems. While Carol was fine with some simple hush money, the two girls were much more like her husband. Caroline was smart, and Vicki was terrifying. While Caroline would start with blackmail, Vicki would add in her fists if necessary.

Carol thought it was weak, using someone else's weakness to your own advantage. Bribing isn't any stronger or moral, but at least it's more effective.

But here she was, Caroline Forbes, despite all of Carol's judgments, fighting to the death to save her life. And she couldn't be sadder. Thoughts of how Caroline might die, right here, right now, thinking that Carol thought so lowly of her didn't sit well with the Lockwood woman. She squirmed in her seat, trying to get up, to tell Caroline how brave and wonderful she is, so this doesn't end up as another Vicki situation where a young girl dies with a crushed self-esteem.

She tries to move, to get up, to tell Caroline exactly how wrong she was – something she never got to tell Vicki – but she can't.

Just then, her car door opens, and lo and behold, there was Vicki Donovan, saving her life.

"Hey Mrs. Lockwood," she says, smiling at the older woman.

"Vicki, I –"

"I know, it's okay." Vicki then turns to Tyler. "Ty, get your mom home, now! I gotta' go help out an old friend."

Ducking as Caroline throws one of the tomb vampires against the tree, Vicki teasingly says, "And here I thought I was supposed to be the brawn."

Caroline spins around at the sound of Vicki Donovan's voice, her face lighting up like that Christmas tree she goes nuts over every year.

"Oh my god, you're actually here - WE ARE TRYING TO HAVE A MOMENT, FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" Caroline rips the head off of the tomb vampire who came at her in the middle of her conversation with Vicki.

Vicki raises her eyebrows, letting out a high-pitched whistle before shouting, "Damn!" immediately reminding Caroline of Matt. She snaps the neck of the last tomb vampire coming their way before continuing, "Being a badass vampire really suits you."

Caroline lets out a light, gleeful giggle. "My mom said the same thing. I mean, I'm still the same person, I guess just having this extra boost of power, the speed, the strength, the heightened senses... and with immortality thrown in there, assuring me that the chances of me dying are slim to none? I'm on top of the fucking world, Vicks. I know that I'm, well, dead! But I've honestly never felt more alive - goddammit, that sounds so much like a cheesy after-school special, I am so sorry that this is what you had to come back to."

"Ugh, I know," Vicki pretends to be disgusted, playfully rolling her eyes, bumping her hip against Caroline's. "I came back only to find further proof that you and Tyler are completely and utterly perfect for each other. Being a werewolf makes him more human than he's ever been, being a vampire makes you feel alive, Jesus fucking Christ - Miss Sheila is going to have my ass for saying that, I honestly can't believe that I can still get grounded in the afterlife, the woman knows  _everything_!"

Caroline reaches out and pulls the older girl into a hug. "Never change, Vicki Donovan."

"And you stay just the way you are, Caroline Forbes, because you are fucking perfect," Vicki murmurs into her hair.

"Did you just quote the titles of my favorite songs at me?"

"Yes, yes I did. So, I know you and Ty have a thing going on, but what are your thoughts on getting back together with my baby brother? Because frankly, I've always kind of been team Maroline, and Ty's totally into Jer no matter how much he wants to deny it, and I think Bonnie has a thing for the older, British version of you, but I could see them in a threesome with Stefan, except I really don't want to cuz' Bonnie's practically my sister -"

Caroline pulls out of the hug, gently, but firmly resting her hands on Vicki's leather-encased shoulders, "Sweetie, you're doing that thing again when you start to ramble like a crazy person because you are so, so happy and excited. What are you trying to say?"

"Look, Care, I'm a ghost now, so therefore I'm wise and I know things."

"Oh good grief!"

Vicki lightly smacks her friend on the shoulder with the back of her hand. "Love you too, Carebear." She then takes ahold of Caroline's hands, tugging her closer and holding on tight. "Seriously though, I love you. Stay safe, please, try not to do anything stupid because I know you, and I know that you probably will. It's literally the problem that every single one of our friends has, and yes, in this case, I am counting Elena as a friend, but only because I want an excuse to belittle her by calling her stupid, and don't say she's not because her actions tend to prove otherwise. Stop listening to her, Caroline, please! I know it's kind of impossible for you, all of you, but please, just stop listening and stop caring if you value your life, which you should!"

Caroline is about to protest, but Vicki is getting her point across because it is quite literally the last thing that she will do.

"Caroline Elizabeth Forbes, listen to me, and listen to me well. You are a smart, strong, powerful, and absolutely beautiful woman, and I am so proud of who you've become. I know that you're insecure, god knows why because you are so amazing, but what you're doing right now, telling your insecurities and your pain to go screw itself and watch as you conquer the world like the confident badass that you are, keep doing that! Forget about Elena and her utterly pathetic little manchild of a boy toy. You have so much compassion within you that they can only ever dream of having because they are selfish and you know what it means to actually care about those you love. So please, Caroline, stop letting those two have so much control over how you feel, because they are the last two people on the planet who should matter to you!"

Caroline is nearly in tears, causing Vicki to pull her back into another hug, holding on tighter and more protectively.

"Please don't go," Caroline pleads, "please don't leave! We just got you back, why can't you just stay?!"

"Honey, you know that's not how it works. I'm sorry, but this might the last time that you get to see me. But hey! At least we actually got to say goodbye this time. Stefan staking me from behind and Elena having Damon compel Jeremy's memories away didn't exactly give me a chance to stop by and let you know that I'll be gone forever." Vicki cups her face with one hand, forcing Caroline to look up at her, only making it harder for both of them to let go. "I'm gonna' have to run like my life depends on it if I want to see Bonnie one last time before I'm gone for good. Remember what I said, okay?" Caroline simply nods, placing her hand over her mouth in order to muffle her tears and put a stop to that wretched scream of pain that so desperately wanted to get out.

Vicki places a gentle kiss on her forehead before speeding off. As soon she let go, Caroline felt as though her entire support system, the one thing that was holding her up, was gone, causing her to brace for impact as she fell to the ground.

Except she didn't. Because Tyler Lockwood caught her just in time as she fell into his lap instead, sobbing into his shirt as he cradles her head, trying to keep tears of his own from falling.

* * *

 

When Jeremy arrived at the witch house, he knew he should've been prepared to face Bonnie's wrath because of course, Caroline told her about the kiss. He probably should've expected Rebekah to be there too, given the tongue-lash he'd gotten from the night before. But what he could not have possibly for the life of him expected, was one Sheila Bennett.

Who looked like she wanted to set him on fire, then bring him back to life so that she could shove a spike through his chest, and then spend all of eternity cussing him out in the afterlife.

He's never wanted to go to hell so badly.

He glances at Bonnie, immediately averting his eyes when she turns to glare at him, eyes bloodshot. "Um, here's the –" he starts to mumble, holding out the necklace, flinching as Bonnie snatches it out of his hands. "Okay, I fully deserve that.

"And then some," Rebekah's voice rings out from where stood - behind Bonnie, arms folded over her chest, sending an unimpressed glare at Jeremy, who looked like he wanted to the ground to swallow him whole.

As Bonnie and Sheila are about to begin the spell, a familiar voice cries out, "Wait!"

They all turn, only to find Vicki Donovan standing before their eyes.

"I'm sorry," she starts to say, looking directly at Bonnie, "but I can't let you send me away without saying goodbye, not again kid."

Bonnie all but jumps into Vicki's arms, not looking to let go anytime soon. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry!"

Vicki, gently running her fingers through Bonnie's hair in order to relax her, softly whispers, "Shh, it's okay, kid, you did what you had to do, I know that and so does Matt. Not everything is your fault, okay?"

Bonnie retracts herself from around Vicki's frame, looking down at the ground, refusing to meet the other girl's eyes. "But it is my fault. Everything is my fault. I shouldn't have gone against the balance of nature in the first place when I brought Jeremy back," Jeremy sucks in a breath at Bonnie's words as he watches her begin to pace around frantically, "you and Anna wouldn't have had footholds otherwise, and Matt wouldn't have dug himself even deeper than he already is in this supernatural mess! God,  _everything_ , is my fault!  _I_  pushed for Grams to have us open that stupid tomb, and look where it got her," Sheila looks at her granddaughter, worried and in tears, wondering when exactly her baby girl took the weight of the world upon her shoulders, " _I_  got Tyler's dad killed because I wouldn't deactivate John's wretched device.  _I'm_  the reason why Caroline is a vampire because I had Damon feed her his blood.  _I_  -"

"Enough!" shouts Vicki, stopping Bonnie mid-rant. She marches over to the petite brunette and commands, "Look at me, kid." Bonnie glances up at Vicki, arms wrapped around herself, lower lip trembling.

She was about to break.

Vicki has Bonnie sit down - legs crossed, chin up - as she sits on her knees in front of her.

"Bonnie, I know that all you see is how you have royally screwed up everyone's lives, but do you know what I see? I see a kid who's just trying to keep her friends happy, and safe, and alive! You saved Caroline's life that night, why are you behaving as if you knew Katherine's plan to turn her into a vampire? And the device, Bon, you got rid of tomb vampires and saved so many lives, Jesus, it's not like you knew Richard Lockwood was a damn werewolf, you didn't even know what the device did! And as for Miss Sheila, she also thought that you were making the right call, and she knew that if she didn't do this, Damon would just continue his reign of terror and we'd have another Vicki Donovan or Caroline Forbes situation on our hands. And yeah, you brought Jeremy back, because you love him and he's your best-friend, screw the consequences - I said what I said Emily, pipe down and let the poor girl live alright?!" Vicki yells up at the sky when the house begins to shake, causing Bonnie to snort.

"Look, kid, the point is, you shouldn't be blaming yourself for everything when you are literally the solution to everyone's problems. And as for everything that happened last night, that's on me. I made a choice, a terrible, stupid choice against my better judgment as I usually do, and you and Matty paid the price. I know that it took so much for you to send me away, and I am so, so sorry for putting both you and Matty through that. I am not, however, sorry for trying to kill Elena, and I never will. I don't know what it is with you two, but I am sick and tired of watching you put your life in danger for that ungrateful little brat. Get out of this town, all of you, because as long as you're here, a dead weight named Elena Gilbert will forever and always be holding you down, clinging to you like the leech she is. You deserve so much better than that. Listen to me, for once in your life Bon, just do as I say. This isn't about tracking mud in the house or doing your homework, kid, this is about your  _life_ , which you seem to not even care about anymore, and that terrifies me to no end and I know for a fact that Miss Sheila feels the same way. Please, stop putting your life on the line for the sake of Elena Gilbert because one of these days, that girl is going to get you killed, she will be the end of you, don't you understand that - God, why can't you understand that?!"

"Because I'm the idiot who loves each and every single of her friends with all her heart," Bonnie scoffs, shrugging. "Because I'm that moron who can't be so mad that I let my friends die. Because I am a complete and utter emotional fool, Vicki, and all I want, all I've ever wanted, is for all of you to be happy, and taking recent events into consideration, to make it out of this damn town alive, and that can't happen for you anymore but I will make sure that it happens for everyone else because I am not about to lose another loved one, not again, not after you and Grams."

"And what about you, huh? All I keep hearing is 'my friends this' and 'my friends that,' but what I don't hear is, 'I'm going to try and stay alive too.' Is this seriously your way of telling me that you are literally willing and able to lay your life down for everyone else's sake at any given moment?"

"I don't know, Vicks, you tell me."

" _How_  can you be so nonchalant about this?! I mean, it's like you don't even care -" And that's when Vicki stops her ranting, blood running cold, fear clouding her mind and rage taking over her heart.

"NO!" her voice booms, causing even Sheila to flinch as it echoes throughout the witch house. "Don't you dare - Bennett, I swear to god if you even -" Vicki's at a loss for words, unable to wrap her head around her recent realization.

Taking a deep breath in to collect her thoughts, Vicki looks Bonnie dead straight in the eye, fighting back the tears threatening to spill.

"Bonnie Sheila Bennett, I know exactly what you are thinking right now, and no, I honestly don't know why these thoughts have decided to take residence inside your head, but what I do know is that I will forgive Damon Salvatore for all that he has done before I let that happen, you hear me? Dead or alive, kid, just know that I will always protect you, especially since your crazy stubborn ass won't let anyone else do it. You are not dying on my watch Bennett, not now, not ever.

I have known you since literal childbirth. I remember being in the hospital and hearing your mom shriek like a freaking banshee as she brought you into this world. I got to see you even before your dad did, and I remember my mom hoisting my toddler self up onto Aunt Abby's hospital because I wouldn't stop throwing a bitch a fit until I saw what the big deal was. And the big deal was you. As far as I knew at age one and a half, nothing was tinier than me. But then I saw you, half my size and quite possibly the quietest baby to have ever been born, and your tiny-ass hand grabbed my forefinger and refused to let go. And I didn't want you to. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, and if the only way to keep you alive is to stop you from pulling the stupid shit that you pull, then so be it.

You are a good kid, Bonnie. You love, and you care, and you give so much and are the absolute worst kind of selfless to ever exist. You deserve to be happy and live a full life just as much as the rest of your friends do, and I don't care if you refuse to believe that because  _I do_  and I will do whatever it takes to make that happen. You will live, Bonnie Bennett, you live happily ever after and no one will ruin that for you, not even you. You can scream and cry in protest all you want, this is not one of those times where I will cave and let you do as you please Bonnie, because this is about your fucking life and I love you, okay? I love you so much, and you might just hate me for whatever crap I might pull, but I can live with that as long as  _you live_."

Bonnie wants to scream and cry in protest like she did as a kid, to tell Vicki that in the end, she is going to do whatever the hell she wants like she always does, but she can't. Because ever since she could remember, Vicki Donovan has protected and kept her safe, and even though she's supposed to be gone, taking Bonnie's one sense of security, her safety net, along with her yet - yet she's somehow still here, refusing to leave her alone because she's absolutely right and Bonnie will do something stupid like setting herself up to be the sacrificial lamb like the martyr that she is, and Vicki will not find peace until Bonnie has lived a full life, white picket fence and all, and gotten everything that she's ever wanted because if Bonnie Bennett is as stubborn as a mule, then Vicki Donovan is as relentless as a goddamn honey badger.

Instead, she swallowed her scream and held back her cry, getting up and pulling Vicki along with her. She leans her head on Vicki's chest, wrapping her arms around her tiny waist. "I won't scream or cry, but I won't stop being stupid either, it's who I am. I just wanted to say that you can do whatever the hell you want to try and stop me, I'm still going to do what I think is right. But this isn't how I want our goodbye to go. You're my sister, Vicks, and I'm not letting you go again without telling you how much I appreciate everything you've ever done for me, even though I can be an utter brat child around you because you always let me have my way. I love you, Vicki, even though I know you're probably gonna' haunt my ass until the day die."

Vicki lets out an amused snort. "Girl, I'm gonna' haunt you for all of eternity in the afterlife, finding peace is a complete and utter joke, sorry Miss Sheila."

She then tilts her head in Rebekah's direction, saying, "You, blondie, I'm leaving you in charge as my second in command because it took you a mere three days to care about Bonnie's life more than she does. Keep this one out of trouble for me, will ya'?"

Rebekah sends the ghost a warm smile. "It would be my pleasure."

Vicki smirks, looking down at Bonnie teasingly. "Aw, my baby sister's got herself a girlfriend!"

Bonnie feels her cheeks burn hotter than any flame she has ever created. "Oh my god, shut up!"

Rebekah bites back a laugh as Sheila simply adds, "She's not wrong, sweetheart..."

"Ay dios mio, you guys are impossible! We have a spell to finish." Bonnie marches off in a huff to grab her grimoire and look over the spell again as Sheila and Vicki exchange knowing glances.

"I'm gonna' head out for this one," Vicki informs them. "No need for you to see me disappear into thin air again. But before I go, you, floppy hair and puppy eyes," Jeremy looks up at her, "actually deserve an apology from me, one that is long overdue. But right now I just really want to punch you in the face, so it's a good thing that you can see ghosts because I want to do this apology thing right. Deuces!"

"Bye Vicki," says Jeremy, his voice barely above a whisper, but Vicki's already long gone.

Bonnie throws Ayana's talisman into the burning fireplace and begins to chant. Sheila takes her granddaughter's hand into her own and begins to chant alongside her.

" _Universa Ruina In Tenebras Ra Damis Infinitum. De Lon Dem Ex Nahal da Six._ "

And just like that, it's all over. Bonnie's no longer holding her Gram's hand in her own. Her hand feels empty, she feels empty, but for a mere second as she feels the familiar chill of Rebekah's hand in her own, her head resting on Bonnie's shoulder.

Not looking back, Bonnie demands, her voice cold, "Go away, Jeremy. I can practically feel your presence lingering around and I'd really rather not."

Without a word, Jeremy leaves. No excuses and no apologies because he knows that the last thing Bonnie wants to hear right now is the sound of his voice.

"He's gone," Rebekah tells her, her tone soft. "Are you okay?"

"I will be," Bonnie assures her, adding a slight smile for a good measure.

Just then, the flames of the fireplace ignite once more, gaining their attention, causing Rebekah to straighten up.

The necklace was still intact.

Bonnie scoffs in disbelief. "God, why won't this thing just die already?!"

"It's a talisman love, it's not that easy to destroy," Rebekah points out, gently rubbing her hand up and down her back.

Bonnie walks towards the fireplace and snatches the talisman up, shoving it deep into her jacket pocket. She then turns back to Rebekah and asks, "Can you - I mean, would you mind - oh good grief, walk me home, please?"

Rebekah smiles widely at Bonnie's words, taking back her hand into her own, and actually walking rather than using her vampire speed.

Once they arrive at Bonnie's house, the girls let go of each other's hands and stand around awkwardly on the porch, unsure as to what they should do next.

"I should not have worn a skirt today," Bonnie remarks after what feels like forever, feeling a cool breeze hit her bare legs.

"Well, if it helps, I'm not exactly complaining about the skirt," Rebekah says nervously, shyly looking up at Bonnie. Bonnie simply bites her lip in response, prompting Rebekah to gladly take a step closer.

Without thinking, Bonnie places her hand on the doorknob in order to steady herself, but instead, she ends up almost falling as she opens the door to her house.

"Huh, forgot that was unlocked," she remarks, sending both Rebekah and herself into a fit of laughter. Once their laughter finally dies down, they glance at each other nervously, waiting for the other person to say something first.

Bonnie decides to be bold and take the plunge. "Um, Bex, did you want to - I mean, you could - could you -" She continues to step backward as Rebekah steps forward, eventually leading Bonnie to cross the threshold as Rebekah is forced to stop in her tracks.

Even without vampire hearing, Bonnie could hear Rebekah's breath hitch, a hopeful look in her eyes that made Bonnie's heart melt.

She smiles brightly at the blonde Original, opening her door even wider as she happily states, "Come in, Rebekah."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I TOLD Y'ALL IN THE COMMENTS I'D UPDATE BY THE END OF THE MONTH!!!


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